Well... what a crazy time!
A massive thank you to you all for your kind thoughts and good wishes, this is truly a traumatic time, possible the worst ever for my family, neighbours and community. There was a large quake in Sept 2010, which destroyed our house and my small business. We had managed to get a house close to our original location and with a small office off to the side for my work and then... 6 months later just as we were coming out of recovery mode nature threw another curved ball and walloped us again, this house too, is now gone. BUT the dramatic turn of events lead to loss of life and severe wide spread destruction this time. Amongst all the carnage, there is a quiet peace that is hard to explain.
At times, my thoughts race and at times I’m at peace with what happened. Earthquakes, tsunami’s, hurricanes, flooding and massive storms are all part of the cycle of life, unfortunately for mankind we have decided that we rule the planet and destroy ecosystems to build our cities in precarious places.
At first, all was forgotten and “I” kicked back in with force, scalding and berating meditation as useless and non-duality as just a hobby to keep “ME” occupied. But on seeing the devastation and the reaction to the life threating forces of nature it is easy for the realisation to sink in that there is nothing really there apart from the universal cycle of life that cannot be interpreted with reason, no matter how scientific or philosophical. It just is and if the wind of change comes bow down with respect for it takes no prisoners.
Our community has reacted and we have been all working long hours to get the elderly and young families back to some sense of normality. With no power or water and sewage, flowing freely in the streets it has and will be a massive task. It has truly been amazing to see total strangers digging homes out of the extraordinary amount of silt that exploded from the earth; Christchurch was built on swampland. During a large earthquake, Christchurch is subject to a phenomenon called liquefaction, which destroys roads and land without prejudice.
We are amazed at the dedication of the urban search and rescue teams from around the world, these teams risk their life’s every day tunnelling in to destroyed buildings looking for survivors and unfortunately buried bodies.

Once again, a big thank you to all my newfound friends for the peace that flourishes within this small but extremely friendly community.

If there is anything I can do to help, please do not hesitate to ask. My email is [email protected]. Mate you are only a couple of hours away, so please do not hesitate. Or if at some stage you need a break away, you are most welcome here.

If there is anything I can do to help, please do not hesitate to ask. My email is [email protected]. Mate you are only a couple of hours away, so please do not hesitate. Or if at some stage you need a break away, you are most welcome here.

Take care,

Don

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Hi Olmate, Thank you for your very kind offer, which is very tempting! I think a short break would be wonderful but i cannot see that happening in the near future, I have added you email to my contacts and if we decide to come your way you'll be the first to know, it would be good to catch-up personally